Jar-sealing apparatus.



No. 7ll,4l3.

I Patented Oct. l4, I902. B. ABKELL. I I JAB SEALING APPARATUS.Appliation flied :nm. 5, 1901. (No Model.) I

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Z(/z' 251165596: Inventor:

- Bartlett firkeu.

w: "cams PEYERS co. mow-Lima. msumsrou. D. c.

UNirnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BARTLETT ARKELL, OF CANAJOHARIE, NE'W YORK, ASSIGNOR TO BEECH- NUTPACKING COMPANY, OF CANAJOHARIE, NE\V YORK, A CORPORA- TION OF NEWVYORK, AND WILLIAM A. LORENZ AND YVILLIAM ll. HONISS,

OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

JAR-SEALING APPARATUS. L

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 711,41 3, dated October14, 1902. Application filed January 5, 1901. Serial No. 42,172. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BARTLETT ARKELL, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Canajoharie, in the county of Montgomery andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inJar-Sealing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in lo apparatus for hermeticallysealing jars and cans after exhausting the air therefrom, so as toprevent the readmission of the air,and thus preserve the contents fromdeterioration or decomposition.

[5 Figure 1 is a plan view of this improved apparatus; and Fig. 2 is aside view project-ed therefrom in section taken along the line 2 2 ofFig. 1, representing this apparatus within an exhausting apparatus inwhich it is placed for the exhausting and sealing operation.

Jars of this class are usually closed by means of a cap, the jointbetween the cap and the jar being made by means of a yielding gasket, ofrubber or similar material. After the jars are filled'and gaskets areput in position the caps are placed upon the gaskets, and the jars inthis condition are subjected to the operation of an exhausting apparatusfor the purpose of creating a more or less complete vacuum inside thejars, the air passing out between the gasket and the comparativelyloose-fitting cap. On account of irregularities and inequalities in thecontour of the jars, the gaskets, and the caps it usually happens thatthe cap does not fit the gasket entirely around the circle thereof, butrests only on the highest points, leaving passages between those points,which while they allow of the more ready exit of the air during the .0exhausting operation are also liable to readmit the air at theconclusion of the exhausting operation, when the air is readmitted tothe exhausting apparatus. Moreover, the caps when thus loosely andirregularly sup- 5 ported upon the gaskets are liable to become tilted,so that they do not bear uniformly around the gasket even ifsubsequently forced down by the pressure sufficiently to seal the jarfor the time being and arethus liable sooner or later to becomeunsealed.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple and inexpensiveapparatus which can be quickly and easily manipulated and which allowsthe caps to rest upon their gaskets and prevents them from becomingtilted during the exhausting operation, the apparatus being so arrangedthat the air-pressure which is readmitted at the conclusion of theexhausting operation will automatically press the caps down upon theirrespective gaskets with sufficient force to close all of the aforesaidpassages before the air can enter them.

In its preferred embodiment this apparatus consists of an open-sidedjar-receptacle 6 for receiving and partly inclosing the jars J, whichstand upon a suitable base 7, which may be integral with the receptacle6 or may be the bottom of the exhausting apparatus in which thereceptacle is placed for the exhausting operation. These jars areprovided with the usual sealing-gaskets, of rubber or similarmaterial,upon which are placed the caps C. After the jars are filled andthe caps placed lightly upon the gaskets a jarpresser 10 is placed overthe caps. The presser is a plate of any suitable material, whichsubstantially closes the upper end of the receptacle, the sides of whichpreferably extend above the presser, as herein shown. The presser isalso preferably provided with the handles 11 for convenience inmanipulation. The receptacle thus loaded is placed within ahermetically-sealed exhausting-receiver R, having an outlet or exhaustpipe 0 and an inlet-valve I. As the air is withdrawn from the interiorof the receiver R the air in the jars finds a sufficiently free exitbetween the caps and the gaskets and between the edges of the presser 10and the sides of the receptacle 6, so that asubstantially equal vacuum 0is produced in the receiver, the receptacle 6, and the jar J. When asuitable vacuum has been obtained,the atmospheric pressure is readmittedthrough the valve I and being by the construction and arrangement abovedescribed directed against the outer side of the presser 10 forces thelatter down, carrying with it the entire series of caps beneath it, thusquickly closing Whatever passages may have existed theretofore betweenthe gaskets and the caps while the latter were resting thereon withcomparatively little pressure, the passages being thus closed before theair can make its way between the edges of the presser and the sides ofthe receptacle and reach those passages, the movement of the air beingobstructed and delayed by the presser itself.

It is obvious that this apparatus may be employed upon any number andfor all forms of jars and caps which are subject to the conditionsherein set forth. It will also be obvious to those skilled in the artthat the arrangement here shown may be modified in many respects,according to the number and nature of the jars and the nature of theircontents. For example, it may in some cases be desirable to invert thejars, and this may be done, since it is obviously immaterial Whether thepresser acts against the top or bottom of the jar, so long as itoperates to press the cap and the jar together.

I claim as my invention- In a jar-sealing apparatus the combination ofan exhausting-receiver, an open-sided receptacle for jars, a jar-pressersubstantially closing the open side of the receptacle and extending overthe jars, means for exhausting the air from both sides of the presser,means for readmitting the air-pressure and directing it against theouter side of the presser to automatically force the jars and the capstogether While obstructing the passage of the air to the inner side ofthe presser.

Signed at Oanajoharie, New York, this atth day of December, 1900.

BARTLETT ARKELL.

Witnesses:

S. J. BRUMLEY, STAFFORD MosHER.

